Zimbabwe’s wildlife authorities announced earlier this week their plan to cull 200 elephants to provide food for communities suffering from severe drought caused by the El Niño weather phenomenon. This drought has devastated crops across Southern Africa, affecting 68 million people and causing widespread food shortages in the region.
Tinashe Farawo, spokesperson for Zimbabwe’s Parks and Wildlife Authority, told Reuters, « We can confirm that we are planning to cull around 200 elephants nationwide, and we are currently working on methods to execute this. »
The elephant meat will be distributed to communities affected by drought in Zimbabwe. This would mark the country’s first elephant cull since 1988, with targeted areas including Hwange, Mbire, Tsholotsho, and Chiredzi.
This follows a similar decision by neighboring Namibia last month, where 83 elephants were culled, and their meat distributed to those impacted by drought.
It is estimated that over 200,000 elephants inhabit a protected region spanning five Southern African countries: Zimbabwe, Zambia, Botswana, Angola, and Namibia, making this area home to one of the largest elephant populations in the world.
Farawo noted that the cull is also part of efforts to ease overcrowding in Zimbabwe’s national parks, which can only sustain 55,000 elephants, while the country houses over 84,000.
« This is an attempt to relieve pressure on the parks in the face of drought. The number we’re talking about is a drop in the ocean considering we have 84,000 elephants, » she added.
With such extreme drought conditions, human-wildlife conflicts over scarce resources are likely to intensify. Last year, 50 people in Zimbabwe were killed in elephant attacks.
Zimbabwe, known for its conservation efforts and growing elephant population, is also advocating for the reopening of ivory and live elephant trade under the UN Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species.
